West Chester's Osberg wins Philly Amateur title

The Chester County connections at the finals of the 114th Philadelphia Amateur Championship on Saturday were almost too numerous to chronicle.

Played at White Manor Country Club in Willistown, West Chester’s Jeff Osberg cruised to the crown with a dominating 10&9 victory over Nelson Hargrove. And the son of Rick Osberg -- the longtime head professional at Waynesborough Country Club in Easttown -- did it by leaning heavily on some advice passed along several years ago from Berwyn’s Jay Sigel, a local golfing legend.

“Every year you want to win this tournament,” said Osberg, who attended Owen J. Roberts High School. “I think that it’s been that last six or seven years that I’ve really had my eyes set on winning the Philly Amateur. I watched a lot of other people do it.”

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Osberg, 29, became the 24th Philly Amateur winner from Huntingdon Valley Country Club. A ninth-seed heading in, Osberg made a devastating move midway through the first round to grab a commanding lead before closing Hargrove out on the 27th hole. The win was the largest margin of victory in the history of a tournament that dates back to 1897. Osberg joins iconic Huntingdon Valley winners like O. Gordon Brewer, William Hyndman, Harold McFarland and Lincoln Roden.

“It’s a pretty good list,” Osberg said. “You look at the names that have come through Huntingdon Valley and then you look at the names who have won the J. Wood Platt trophy and it’s a who’s who of Philadelphia golf. “There are a lot of legends on there, a lot of national players and a lot of really great players who have been able to put their names there. It’s going to be awesome to see my name engraved on there as well.”

Osberg, who helped Guilford College (N.C.) win a Division III national championship in 2005, has twice medaled in local U.S. Amateur qualifying. He was a semifinalist in the Philly Amateur in 2010, but missed most of the 2012-13 seasons after undergoing a pair back surgeries to alleviate leg numbness. He did not resume playing until January of this year, and not seriously until March.

“I would have liked to have played a little better (Saturday),” said Hargrove, 21, of Haverford, Pa., who recently graduated from Brown. “I played so well all week. I just had a tough mental stretch there. Obviously, Jeff’s playing great and I knew I had to play well to beat him. He just played unbelievably solid and wouldn’t let me back in it.”

Trailing through six holes, Osberg pulled even with a par on the par-4 seventh, and then took the lead for good with a 15-foot birdie at No. 8. He went on to birdie the ninth, got up-and-down for par at 10 and then added a tap-in birdie at the par-5 11th.

“It changed real quickly from being 1-down on the seventh tee box,” Osberg said. “By the time I was able to catch my breath and really feel like I was playing well I had gotten a 5-up lead. It was a definitely a good place to be.”

Osberg closed out the morning session with two more birdies and added an eagle on the 17th, to take a commanding 7-up lead. On No. 6 in the afternoon – his 24th of the day -- Osberg holed a 25-foot eagle chip to go 9-up. Three holes later, it was over.

The result in the final was much like the rest of the 32-player tournament for Osberg, who closed out three other match-play competitors with at least five holes remaining.

“You need to look at your opponent on the first tee,” said Osberg, recalling the conversation he had with Sigel, one of America’s premier amateur golfers who went on to win eight times on the Senior PGA Tour. “He’s there for a reason. He may not have played his best in the morning but there is a reason he is in the final. You have to gear up and understand that you can’t take your foot off the accelerator. Anytime you start playing bad that lead can evaporate quickly.”

NOTE: Waynesborough Country Club’s Sawyer Wolfers fired a 78 to win the age17 and under title of the Golf of Philadelphia’s Caddie Tournament on Monday at Coatesville Country Club. Wolfers 7-over score was 16 strokes better than his nearest competitor.